Robert G. Patterson lives in Memphis, Tennessee. His music is infused with the popular rhythms and melodic fragments around him, and these provide source material for his personal voice. Recent commissions from the Iris Chamber Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra confirm an emerging interest in his innovative musical style that has led to performances in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as across the United States and Canada.He is also the founder and director of the Riverside Wind Consort, a small performing group dedicated to chamber music for wind instruments. Patterson holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Memphis, and Oberlin College, having studied composition with George Crumb, Jay Reise, Don Freund, and John Baur. His compositions have received numerous awards, including the 1999 University of Michigan Bands Commission, the 1994 International Composition Prize from the City of Tarragona in Spain, and the 1990 Distinguished Composer of the Year award from the Music Teachers National Association. Patterson is also a horn player with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra as well as a software developer. His plug-ins for Finale software are used by musicians throughout the world.